Imagine not being able to eat, no matter how hungry you are. It happened to a Nebraska man and he nearly starved, but a medical machine changed that and saved his life.

Kyle Clow, 22, of Humboldt, suffered from gastroparesis. The condition made him either not want to eat or throw up what he could eat. The malady was a result of nerve damage between his brain and his stomach.

Advertisement

Clow got as low at 105 pounds a year ago. His normal weight was 160.

"[That's] when they decided to put in a feeding tube that I had for a while," Clow said. "Anytime I'd eat, I'd get real sick. It got to the point where I was scared to eat."

Clow also has diabetes, which aggravated his weight loss.

He was diagnosed in July 2011, but it wasn't until February of this year that he had a surgical procedure called Enterra therapy.

"It's an electrical stimulator, which is implanted into the abdominal wall," said Dr. Jim Scott with the Nebraska Medical Center.

Scott said the device sends electrical impulses through the stomach, which helps cut down or even eliminate nausea. He said it's almost like a reset button. Scott said Clow will likely have the device for the rest of his life.

"This really isn't a cure for gastroparesis, it's a treatment for it, so it's something that he'll probably have to continue to use," Scott said.

That doesn't bother Clow, since the alternative is so much worse.

"I'd say Dr. Scott and his staff -- what they did for me -- not only changed my life, but absolutely saved my life," Clow said.

Since his surgery, Clow has gained about 30 pounds. He still has more weight to gain, but he said he feels like a new person.